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I only scout players who are under 22 and worth more than £500k, which narrows down my scouting to around 3000 potential players. I'm obviously missing out on the older players, but by narrowing down my searches it seems to be a lot more effective.

UEFA Champions League - despite dropping points in the first match, the group stage was easy enough. The knockout rounds were easy, apart from the amazing comeback needed against Real Madrid. For the fourth time in six years we faced Atletico Madrid in the final, with the same result every time. Linfield had a pretty decent year in Europe, so hopefully that will earn them some coefficient points.

Squad - we simply couldn't afford to keep the squad from last season, so there has been quite a few changes. Still, the squad feels just as strong.

Transfers - the finances needed sorting out, so I was forced to get involved in the transfer market even though I didn't want to.

The stadium is a decent size now (37k) so I'm hoping that one day the chairman will finally decide to invest in the youth facilities. Other than that, I just need to keep on winning things to give the other clubs in NI the best chance of progressing in Europe.

Blimey, tough luck for Linfield. Good sign of progress for Glentoran though. Are they starting to form the 'big 3' in N.Ireland now then?

It seems that way, there usually seems to be a gap to 4th place and the club seems to change each season. It was such a shame Glentoran lost, getting three clubs in the group stage would have been massive for NI.

I only scout players who are under 22 and worth more than £500k, which narrows down my scouting to around 3000 potential players. I'm obviously missing out on the older players, but by narrowing down my searches it seems to be a lot more effective.

I also have 26 scouts which helps

Wow, that's phenomenal. My board was refusing more than twenty when I was winning the Premiership and the Champions League!

Do you tend to sign on the basis of your own assessment of their skills, the scout's assessment of their CA, or the scout's assessment of their PA? Sorry if I'm being a pain, just genuinely astounded at the players you've managed to pick up. In my most recent game I played "blind", never looking at a players stats and relying purely on scouts, form and my assistant manager's thoughts to make decisions and whilst I unearthed some of the world's best players, I wasn't doing it with anything like the consistency that you are.

Wow, that's phenomenal. My board was refusing more than twenty when I was winning the Premiership and the Champions League!

Do you tend to sign on the basis of your own assessment of their skills, the scout's assessment of their CA, or the scout's assessment of their PA? Sorry if I'm being a pain, just genuinely astounded at the players you've managed to pick up. In my most recent game I played "blind", never looking at a players stats and relying purely on scouts, form and my assistant manager's thoughts to make decisions and whilst I unearthed some of the world's best players, I wasn't doing it with anything like the consistency that you are.

Basically, I look for young players who could go straight into my first team. Usually I'll look for players that have decent PA, but they must also have good CA otherwise I find they rarely reach their potential rating. I use the scout stars to identify potential signings, sometimes looking at the attributes if I have a choice of one or more players.

Basically, I look for young players who could go straight into my first team. Usually I'll look for players that have decent PA, but they must also have good CA otherwise I find they rarely reach their potential rating. I use the scout stars to identify potential signings, sometimes looking at the attributes if I have a choice of one or more players.

It is sorted by PA, then CA, so the ones at the top of the list are the ones I look to sign. The player at the top looks like an ideal signing, but I don't use the MC position.

All probably seems a little obvious, but very interesting. You certainly seem to have a much better breadth of quality players on your radar, I suspect tweaking the scouting parameters made a big difference there. And the point about the CA is also very true... I've had a lot of players that have gone on to have good careers, but it has taken them so long to mature properly that they've done it elsewhere after I've given up on them ever being good enough for the team. On the plus side, you can make a healthy transfer profit, but it does mean a squad full of players who are unlikely to ever actually make it. Cheers for all the info and screenshot, much appreciated.

I'm playing in the northern irish league too and have the same problem with no youth facilities.

Its early days for me yet and i only just got a stadium increase.

I'm playing it slightly differently though as i sign players that my scouts give high PA to and farm them out of feeder teams but i'm having trouble keeping them as my "youth reserves" always storm the second and first divisions and i lose my feeder team.
They then promptly get pumped in the premier as they tend not to have any players.

The challenge for Bourneview was almost non existent, so all we need to do is keep it up to give the other clubs the est chance of improving. Both Linfield and Glentoran seem to be picking up, so I'm hoping they can keep up their progress.

UEFA Champions League - we stumbled through the group stage, but managed to top it. The knockout rounds were routine, although we needed this comeback at the Nou Camp. This set up the annual Bourneview vs Atletico final, which went the way it always goes. It is pretty crazy that five out of the last seven finals have featured the same two teams!

Linfield in Europe - this was a monumental achievement given the group draw which will do wonders for the coefficients, hopefully keeping Linfield third seeds.Glentoran in Europe - they were a home win from making the CL group stage, but instead had to settle for the Europa League where they had a few good results and finished third in their group.

Squad - I tried to rim the squad down a bit this year to give players more games, which worked well until we suffered with injuries. I think I will need to sign a couple of new players.

Transfers - I continued to sort out the finances as I replaced a few players while making big profits. I could have done without the chairman selling Junior though, who I can't really replace.

Key Player Profiles:

Dejan Vukojevic - I tried giving him as many games as possible to see how many he scored, the results were impressive.

The other clubs really seem to be picking up, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this changes the coefficients. I'm also hoping there will be some news from the chairman soon about either a takeover, a stadium expansion or some new youth facilities.

Our run of CL wins has given the other clubs a chance to make huge strides in Europe, but for us to move forward as a country we really need three teams making the group stages of the CL. Hopefully the rise of the Premiership might help the other clubs out, which might give some of the other clubs a chance fo winning more matches in the qualifiers.

Does Real Madrid still have the most Champions League titles? How many more you need to reach them?

Perhaps it would be good time to activate at least top 5 leagues in Europe, to see how much harder would it be for you to continue European domination. If you are aiming for top 5 spot, it would be fair to give equal conditions to your competition.
And also to have insight view on Atletico Madrid domination in Spain. Why are Real and Barca sleeping?

Does Real Madrid still have the most Champions League titles? How many more you need to reach them?

Perhaps it would be good time to activate at least top 5 leagues in Europe, to see how much harder would it be for you to continue European domination. If you are aiming for top 5 spot, it would be fair to give equal conditions to your competition.
And also to have insight view on Atletico Madrid domination in Spain. Why are Real and Barca sleeping?

Real Madrid have won the most with 13, which means I'm not even half way to beating them.

Adding a load of leagues is a tough one for me. It will bring the much needed advantage of better competition for my team, but it might kill off the chances of Linfield and Glentoran completely. Then there's the main issue, speed. My laptop is a couple of years old and although it isn't exactly slow, adding new leagues would slow my game game somewhat. My aim was to zoom through the seasons quickly, and unfortunately I think adding more leagues will just slow me down. Perhaps it could be something I try if I manage to get NI to the top?

The Atletico Madrid situation is an odd one. Real Madrid and Barcelona are still the two dominant teams in Spain, no one has else has managed to finish in the top two in La Liga since I started my game. Atletico Madrid have finished 3rd for under half of those seasons. It appears that they have just done really well in Europe as their squad is weaker than Real/Barca.

Dude i cant comprehend your awesomeness of turning that league in to one of europes best!

We are getting there, but there is still a long way to go. At the moment we have three clubs who seem to be making progress, ideally we need more clubs to join in an provide a bit of competition for the European spots.

Next season could also be tough with just 2 CL spots, so we might take a little backwards step.

We are getting there, but there is still a long way to go. At the moment we have three clubs who seem to be making progress, ideally we need more clubs to join in an provide a bit of competition for the European spots.

Next season could also be tough with just 2 CL spots, so we might take a little backwards step.

One question tho, do you help the other teams to succed by like loaning out players to them?

Was there any change over years in prize money that is awarded for finishing position in NI Prem league? If not, than that is for sure one of the factors that are slowing down progress of league as a whole.

Was there any change over years in prize money that is awarded for finishing position in NI Prem league? If not, than that is for sure one of the factors that are slowing down progress of league as a whole.

I think there has been a small change, but certainly nothing that would make a difference.

Linfield and Glentoran had good seasons in Europe, so we needed to keep winning to make sure they kept getting the opportunities in Europe. For anyone wondering, this is the season I have replayed due to my file becoming corrupted.

UEFA Champions League - This were looking great as we swept aside every team we faced. Unfortunately though the final did not go our way as we lost on penalties. This is bad news for the other clubs as it means Linfield are back in the qualifiers and Glentoran are in the Europa League.

Linfield in Europe - not a great year for Linfield as they finished bottom of their group.Glentoran in Europe - this was huge, as they played superbly in the qualifiers to make the group stage for the first time. The Europa League didn't go too well though.

Squad - the squad is in transition as a lot of my early signings are approaching 30.

Transfers - I replicated the transfers from the lost season and a half in the summer, then made a couple more in January. Finances shouldn't be a problem for a while.

The improvement to the youth facilities have been announced, so hopefully by next year I should start to see an improvement in the quality of youths coming through at the club.. The stadium is also being upgraded, so it should hold close to 50k soon, although it has hit the expansion limit.

The priority for us is clearly to win the Champions League again, it will be a massive blow to NI not having the three spots next season.

Do you find that the lack of real competition in the league restricts you in anyway? Judging by your records, probably not, but do you think the players would get even better if they were challenged?

It may well hinder the progression of the players, but I think it actually helps us as a team as our form and morale is usually great going into the tougher European games. It shouldn't be like that though.

Linfield in Europe - not a bad year, but it will hit us not having a second team in the group stages of the Champions league.Glentoran in Europe - they made the group stage, but coming third was all they could get.

Squad - with the last round of transfers the squad is starting to feel a bit weak, we may need a few new faces.

Transfers - just a straight swap as we lost a key player to the dreaded new challenge.

Key Player Profiles:

Dejan Vukojevic - another great season, but he is slowing down. I'm not quite sure if I can replace him.

Shame about exiting the Champions League in the group stages, that must have been a tough pill to shallow. Congrats on the Europa League win though!

Btw, do you post monthly losses or profits? How much a year are you spending on wages and how much does the new stadium generate in ticket receipts? And has you're sponsorship deals improved much since the beginning of the game?

Btw, do you post monthly losses or profits? How much a year are you spending on wages and how much does the new stadium generate in ticket receipts? And has you're sponsorship deals improved much since the beginning of the game?

I've never really properly tracked my finances, but I'll have a go at answering the questions.

Wages - my wage total is about £550k p/w, with a budget of £1.3m p/w. I think that given the size of the club it compares quite well with that of Linfield.

Income - the stadium is bringing in around £30m a year, but I'm sure we could bring in more. Unfortunately the stadium is at its limit so there will be a long wait to move again.

Sponsorship - compared to this in my first season, it is safe to say the sponsorship has increased, although we are a long way behind the other big clubs in Europe.

Things have changed a lot behind the scenes with the takeover, so I'm hoping we can continue our improvements to the facilities. It will be a few years until we can produce useful youth players though, the most recent lot were just as bad as all the others.

Yeah but half star for you could be a few stars for another team lower down in your division. I take it you have no youth team to speak of then?

I've had a look through the youth released in the last few years, there's a small handful that have found clubs and made appearances in the Championsip 2 but quite a few of them have since been released and are without clubs.

I've got no youth players, but we still win the U18s league every year

What are Linfield and Glentoran's youth facilities like? Have they been improved too?

How big are their stadiums? What are attendances like in the NI Premier league?

Linfield and Glentoran have good and basic youth facilities respectively, although I'm not sure what they started off with.

Linfield's stadium holds around 24000, with an average of around 17000 last season (compared to 2000 in the first season). Glentoran's holds 12000 and had an average of around 9000 last season (compared to 1000 in the first).

I thought SI would have implemented the "poison daddy" by now (opposite of suger daddy). A man who wants to sell your ground, training facilities, use the club's finances to buy the club and pay for his new yatch etc....